King named County Firefighter of the Year

♦ Causby named top pay-per-call honor for the department.

Gordon County Fire Department held its annual banquet late last week, with plenty of food and recognition to go around.

With various county officials, family and friends in attendance, Aaron King was named Full-Time Firefighter of the Year.

“He always has a plan in place, and you can always find him doing what needs to be done,” Division Chief Nathan Saylors said, reading from the award citation. “He always goes above and beyond to represent the department, county and his officers.”

Shane Causby was named Payper-call Firefighter of the Year by the department. Causby was on 78 calls and completed 106 hours of training in a pay-percall capacity.

“We thank [Shane] for his time and effort,” Saylors said, reading from the award citation the following: “He has put a lot of effort and time into training and calls, and I believe what he has done this year stands above everyone else.”

Both awards were based on recommendations from the peers of the honorees.

Several Life Saving and Meritorious citations were presented Thursday night for actions during calls in 2022, as well as recognitions for year’s of service.

MERITORIOUS LIFE SAVING

AWARD

April 25 — Clay Cantrell, Lt. Jonathan Pressley, Sgt. Jarod Robinson, Battalion Chief Heath Derryberry, Sgt. Stephen Williams, and Division Chief Nathan Saylors.

MERITORIOUS AWARD

July 13 — Sgt. Aaron Allen, Scott Brooks, Lt. Adam Diskey, Jarod Smith, Lt. Jeff Sorrells, and Sgt. Jason Underwood.

LIFE SAVING AWARD

Jan. 14 — Battalion Chief Heath Derryberry

March 26 — Tracy Holsomback, and Battalion Chief Heath Derryberry

March 30 — Sgt. Mike Reece, and Lt. Jeff Sorrells

April 30 — Lt. Bo Nicholson, Lt. Adam Dortch, Dustin Silvers, and Jared Smith

May 10 — Battallion Chief Zevan Gilbert, Lt. Jeff Sorrells, Lt. Eddie Fair, Sgt. Aaron Allen, Sgt. Mason Mattila, and Aaron King

July 6 — Lt. Jonathan Pressley, and Sgt. Stephen Williams

July 22 — Lt. Brandon Holcomb, and Sam Magnicheri

YEARS OF SERVICE

AWARD

5 years — Mike Reece 10 years — Will Amick 15 years — Jimmie Avery, Josh Cochran, Zach Crow, Hugh Holcomb, Josh Howard, Jonathan Pressley, and Jeff Sorrells

30 years — Johnny Frix This year’s GCFD Banquet was held at Antioch Baptist Church, 2666 Dews Pond Road.

above:

right:

Blake silvers Aaron King is presented with the Gordon County Fire Department Firefighter of the Year award by Chief Doug Ralston.

Blake silvers Nathan Saylors (from left), Jared Robison, Stephen Williams, and Heath Derryberry, receive a Meritorious Life Saving Award from Chief Doug Ralston. Not pictured are Clay Cantrell, and Jonathan Pressley. Shane Causby is presented with the Gordon County Fire Department Pay-Per-Call Firefighter of the Year award by Chief Doug Ralston.